Automatic orientating and feed mechanism for fruit pitting machines



E. w. QARRQLL. 2,232,269

Original Filed June l, 1958 4 Sheetsheet l www n. ,.i alii-H Fe'b. 18, E941,

AUTOMATIC ORIENTATING AND FEED MECHANISM FOR FRUIT FITTING MACHINES pb., lgl.. E, W, CARRQLL, A 2,2322@ AUTOMATIC ORIENTATING AND FEED MECHANISM FOR FRUIT PITTlNG MACHINES Original Filed June l, i938 4 Sheets sheet 2 Feb 18, lga i E, W, @ARRQLL PSQ AUTOMATIC ORIENTTING AND FEED MECHNISM FOR FRUIT-E'EHG MACHINES Orlgmal Flled June l, L93@ Smm Slee?, 3

IN VENTO@ Y GQWQM v ATTOENE S.

.ELLS uva/9TH W.' CAROLL.

E. w. CARROLL. 2,232,209

AUTOMATIC ORIENTATING AND FEED MECHANISM FOR FRUIT FITTING MACHINES Feb, i8, i941,

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed-Juge 1, 1938 [NVE/vra@ ELLSWORTH W CAR/POLL AT TORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 18, 1941 PATENT l OFFICE AUTOMATIC ORIENTATING ANDFEED LIECHANISM vF011. FRUIT PITTING MA- CHINES Ellsworth W. Carroll, San Francisco, Calif., as-

slgnor to S W Fine Foods,

Ine., San

I'ancisco, Calif., a corporation of California Original application June l, 1938, Serial No.' 211,140. Divided and this application November 13, 1939, Serial No. 304,109

comms. (c1. 14s-2s) My present invention relates to orientators, and in the present embodiment more particularly to fruit orientators.

This application is a division of my co-pending application for United States Letters Patent,

Serial No. 211,140, iiled June 1, 1938, entitled Full automatic orientator.

When pitting fruit such as peaches, cherries, or the like, by machine it has heretofore been necessary to orientate the fruit manually. l

The primary object of this invention is to provide a full automatic machine which will take the fruit from a hopper (where the fruit is poured in haphazardly), orientate the stem indent to a predetermined position in relation to the machine and deliver the fruit to a. pitting machine in' this same predetermined relativ position.

Another object is to provide a machine which will in addition to the above, inspect the fruit for proper orientation, reject the non-orientated fruit and deliver the properly orientated fruit as above.

Another object is to provide a machine which will in addition to all the foregoing, orientate the seam which is characteristic of such fruit as peaches and aprlcots, inspect the fruit for properly orientated seams, reject the fruit having non-orientated seams and deliver the orientated fruit to a pitting machine with the seam and stem indent in proper position (relative to the machine) for pitting.

Another object is to provide a machine which 35 will sever the tips from fruit such as peaches.

Another object is to provide a hopper which will insure an extremely slow but absolutely 'uniform delivery of contents and more especially when the contentsare non-rigid bodies such as fruit.

Another object is to provide an invention which will be equally well adapted to orientating fruit to a vertical, horizontal, or to any other position of the major axis of the fruit,

45 thereby making this invention practical for use on any type of pitting machine.

Other objects and advantages will be evident to those skilled in this art.

The mechanism to be first described is particularly adapted for use with that type of pitting machineV having a reciprocating feed bar pushing the fruit along a track consisting of two knife-like guideways embedded in the meat of the fruit, and in which the fruit is held with its major axis (that is, a line passing through the blossom end and the stem end) in a horizontal position while removing the pits.

The mechanism shown for severing the tips and locating the side seams of such fruit as peaches would obviously be omitted when building a machine to orientate fruit which does not have such characteristics,l without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I will later on describe a mechanism more particularly adapted to orientate fruit to a stem downward position, and to inspect for proper orientation in this position.

The changes necessary to the mechanism shown to orientate fruit to any other relative position are comparatively simple and will be readily understood by those skilled in this art.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein there is shown by way of i1- lustration and not of limitation, preferred embodiments thereof.

In thedrawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views:

Fig. l shows a front elevation of this machine with the front wall removed.

Fig. 2 shows a topor plan view of this machine, but with the extreme upper superstructure removed.

Fig. 3 is a top or plan view showing those parts which werev removed from Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical view taken at lines IVf-IV of Fig. 1, looking in the direction shown by arrows, showing the mechanism of station D for orientating the stem indent to a horizontal plane.

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical view taken at lines V-V of Fig. 1, looking in the direction shown by arrows, showing the mechanism of station E, for orientating the stem indent to the shown position.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical view taken at lines VI--VI of Fig. 1, looking in the direction shown by arrows, showing the mechanism of station G, to inspect for proper orientation.

Fig. 'l is a transverse vertical view taken at lines VII-VII of Fig. 1, looking in the direction shown by arrows, showing the mechanism of station H, the exit station.

Fig. 8 shows in perspective a unit of three fingers of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 shows the preferred construction for the periphery of rollers made from material having a smooth or slick surface.

Fig. 10 shows an enlarged view of the ends of the two fingers which ride the peach to detect.

the seam.

Fig. 111 shows an alternate construction of the orientating means.

5 A Fig. 12 shows an alternate type of inspection and rejection means.

Similar numerals refer to throughout the several views.

In the drawings III designates generally a housing within which and upon which the operating parts of the orientating mechanism are mounted.

The housing I9 is secured to and supported by the pitting machine, a part of which is shovm at II in Fig. 2.

l5 Referring to Fig. 1: Journaled within the pitting machine and extending into the orientatoris the drive shaft I2, having secured thereon the sprocket I3 which drives the endless chain I4 having attachment links I5 which carry the plates I6.

Referring now to Fig. 2: The plates I6-I8 are provided with pivots I1I1 for the tongs I8-I8 which are biased inwardly by the C-shaped spring lI9 and provided with interlocking gear segments 28 to insure uniform centralizing acsimilar parts tion of the concave faces which contact the fruit- In Fig. 1 the housing I0 is provided with bearings for the shaft 22 which carries the sprocket 23 for the return of the chain I4, which then passes through the hopper 24 in the direction shown by the arrow which has an oscillating bottom 25, hinged thereto at 26. bottom is adjustable for length and secured at the desired length by screws 21.

'I'he housing I0 isalso provided with bearings for the shaft 28 having secured thereto the pulley 29, the eccentric 30 and the sprocket 3l, all of which are rotated by the chain I4.

The cylindrical bristle brush 32 is secured to the shaft 33 which is journaled in the housing II) and driven by the tight pulley 34,-which is in turn driven by the belt 35 from the pulley 29. The eccentric 30 is journaled in the eccentric strap 36 which is pivoted at 31 to the hopper bottom 25, thus oscillating the latter. The hopper 24 is also provided with a stationary bottom 38.

It is well known to everyone who has attempted to secure a slow and uniform feed of fruit (or other non-rigid bodies) from the bottom of a hopper, that the chief difficulty to be overcome is the fact that after the first few fruits or ob jects have left the hopper, the remaining fruit will be found to have formed an arch over the exit, thus stopping the flow. To overcome this objection, the oscillating bottom 25 is provided to agitate the fruit just enough to prevent these arches being formed. It is also found necessary to provide a. space where a few fruits can ride the exiting -means (the tongs I8 in this case) free of any superimposed fruit, this space providing a reserve supply of fruit to fill any empty openings, in case the crowding or superimposed weight at the extreme bottom of the hopper prevent filling all openings in the exiting means at the extreme bottom point. As the tongs I8 are carried through the hopper 24 they are held open by a stationary cam track 39-Fg. 2 y(which forces the ends of the segments 20 inwardly, thus separating the -tongs I8), to receive a peach 2I-A in Fig. 1, the track 39 being'secured to the hopper bottom 38, all surplus fruit being brushed back by the brush 32 traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow.

In Fig. 1 the vertical shafts 40 are journaled in This oscillating the housing III and restrained from vertical movement by the collars 4I, and the pulleys 42 affixed thereto. The gear housings 43-44 are journaled on the shafts 40 and are free also for axial movements thereon. yWithin each housing 5 43-44 is a pair of spiral gears (not shown). One of these spiral gears is slidably mounted on the vertical shaft 40 which has a sliding keyway so as to revolve the gear with the shaft 40, but yet permit of a free axial movement. This first l0 gear meshes with and drives its mate which is secured to the shaft 45, which is journaled in the housings 43 and 44 and in the fork 43-A which is a part of the respective housings. 'I'he shaft 45 has fixed thereon the roller 46 which is pref- 15 erably made of sponge rubber. Should it be desirable to use some other material, especially a material having a smooth surface, a serrated face is recommended (such as is shown in Fig. 9).

.The housings 43 and 44 are provided with the 20 slidably mounted stems 41 and with coiled compression springs 48 which are just strong enough to give the desired pressure on the fruit.

A thin, narrow curved knife is shown at 49, suspended by the upwardly extended arms 50 and 25 pivoted at 5I to the frame 52 and having outwardly extending fingers 53 and also provided with comparatively light tension springs 54 to bias the two knives 4 9 against the fruit so that when the fruit is revolvedby the rollers 46 all pro- 30 tuberances will be cut off.

A plurality of tip cut-off knives 49 is preferable, because the radius of the knives being xed while the radius of the fruit varies, therefore the shorter the cutting edge of the knife 49 is, the less 35 noticeable will be the result of this difference in radii. See Fig. 2.

Secured to the frame 52 are the stems 55 which Yare slidably mounted in the top frame 56, and which havethe upper ends bifurcated and 40 pivoted at 51 to the bifurcated ends of the lever 58, best shown in Fig. 3. 'I'he link 59 in-Fig. 5 is pivoted at 60 to the frame 56 and at 6I to the lever 58, the latter being pivoted at 62 to the connecting rod 63, which is pivoted at the lower end 45 at 64 in Fig. 5 to the lever 65vwhich is secured to the shaft 66 which is suitable mounted for oscillation in the brackets 61 of the housing I0. This shaft 66 will be further described later on.

In Fig. 4 .the quill 68 is mounted to slide freely 50 on the stem 41 and in the frame 56, with a collar 69 to halt the downward travel inthe position shown. The quill 68 has a suitable mounting at the lower end for a series of radial-ly mounted oscillating fingers 19 which are pivoted at 1I and 55 provided with a lug 12 fitted to engage the disc 13 which is secured to .the extensions of the frame 52. (See also Fig. 3.) The lower end of the fingers 10 are rounded off and smooth, to freely ride the peach 2|, and are held in engage- 60 ment with the peach by the counterweights 14.

The fingers 10 are arranged radially to contact one half the periphery of the peach 2I on the horizontal centerline at regularly spaced intervals, and are preferably arranged in groups of 65 three fingers per unit as follows:

In Fig. 8 the counterweights 14 of the center member of Ithe unit has secured thereto two electrical contact bars 15, but electrically insulated therefrom by the non-conductors 16. The 70 counterweights 14 of the two adjacent fingers are equipped with electrical contact points 1-1 grounded to the housing I0. The contact bars 15 are so spaced that minor irregularities in the surface of the fruit will not make a co: tact with the 15 points 1l, but so that a major relative movement of the fingers 10 such as is caused by any one of the three lingers 'l0 of that unit dropping into the stem indent will establish an electrical circuit. The bars are provided with electrical conductors 18, which are joined .together and led to the electro-magnet 19, Fig. 4, which has a. conductor 80 which connects with any suitable source of electricity, which'source is also grounded to the housing 0 in order to complete the circuit. The conductor 80 is also provided with a switch (not shown) controlled by the pitting machine for interrupting .the current while the chain |13 is being advanced, as will be described later.

Referring to Fig. d, the link 0| suitably connecting the two housings 43-40 through the medium of the lever 02, which is pivoted at 03 on the bracket 8d of the housing |0, with a slot 80 sliding on the pin 00, which is secured to the fori; i3- A, forms an equaiizing gear, which is common to each pair of the gear housings Md The lever 8l is secured lto the shaft 60 and bifur cated at the opposite end so as to engage the collar 88, and thus provide means for separating the housings |13 and l0 as the lever 0l is moved downward. Fig. 1 shows the electro-magnet l@ having suitable brackets 89 and being attached to and supported by :the housing id.

` In Fig. 5 the amature 90 is fixed to the rod di which is slidably mounted in the housing |0 and provided at the lower end with a shifting fork @t which is rotatably engaged with the groove 03 of.' the sliding clutch member 90, which is slidably keyed to -the shaft 95. The sliding clutch member 9@ is provided with a cone clutch face at @t which engages a mating clutch face secured to the .pulley 9i which is journaled in the bracket @d extending from the housing i0. The upper end of the sliding member 9d forms a conica'l braise 0@ with the mating member secured to the housing i0. The sliding clutch member 0d is held in clutch driving engagement by gravity as long as the electro-magnet i0 is not energized.

In Fig. 5 the hollow conical cup |00 is secured to the stem iti, which is slidably journaled in the frame 5t and connected with a thrust .bearing at |02 to the upper end of connecting rod |03 which is pivoted to the equalizing lever |06, which is pivoted to the link |06 which is -pivoted at i0? to the bracket 98 of the housing i0. The opposite end of the equalizing bar |00 is biurcated and pivoted to the thrust collar |08 which is journaled between the flanges |00 which are xed to the shaft 95, the above mechanism forming an equalizing gear to .move the cup |00 and the cup l l0 in opposite directions simultaneously. These cups |00 and l i0 are biased toward eac-h other by the spring l' and separated while changing fruits by the lever ||2which is xed on the shaft 66 and bifurcated at the opposite end to properly engage lthe flange |00. These cups |00 and H0 are preferably made with a conical i-ncluded angle of 90 and to properly hold the fruit when biased together Iby the spring and with the lever i l2 in the shown position.

In Fig. 2 the roller H3 is journaled at the end of the lever Il which is pvoted on fthe stud H5 which is supported by the housing I0 to which it is aillxed. 'Ihe lever H0 is biased toward ythe peach with a comparatively heavy spring H6 mounted in the spring seat Ill which is a. projection of the housing I0, and has secured to itself near the pivoted end ||5 a comparatively light leaf spring IIB biased -away from the lever lll, having an electrical contact point H9. which is grounded 5to the housing I0, and terminates in the fork which rides the peach lightly. The

which is also grounded tothe housing 0, to complete the circuit.

The foregoing mechanism is so constructed that the contact points are separated by the light spring tension of the leaf spring H0 at all times except when .the roller M3 enters the stem indent, at which time the spring l l0 overcomes the comparatively light spring H0, thus forcing the contact pointsi i8 and |2| together. The circuit thus completed energizes the electro-magnet E23 which lifts the armature 90 which disconnects the clutch and instantly sets the brake as has been previously described, and thus stops the peach with the stem indent in the predetermined position.

In Fig. l' the peach H2@ is shown in a section taken on the lines XI-XI of Fig. 2 and is held and revolved Ibetween and .by the rollers |25, which are mounted with the housings QS-M and shaft 40, and equipped with the equalizing gear as before described, as well as with an electromagnet operated clutch and brake mechanism such as was previous-ly described at @t and 00 of Fig. 5. In Fig. l the levers i2@ and itl are freely pivoted to the housing dd at |23 and held in contact with the :peach byv gravity. The lever 'B2i carries the grounded to housing i0 contact point |29 and terminates in a disc with a comparatively large radius best shown in Fig. lli, which also shows the comparatively small radius of the finger |25. The linger |25, Fig. 1, carries the insulated adjustable contact point |30 lccnnected to the electro-magnet 63| by .the electric wire |32. These points 929 and |30 are adjusted so that they will make contact only when a sharpV seam similar to the seam |33 in the peach i2@ in Fig. 10 permits :the small radius of lever |20, Fig. 10, to overrun the larger radius of lever |2l. Thus occasional flat spots or 'bruises from handling are prevented from operating the stopping and braking mechanism, this stopping and braking mechanism being simi-lar to that which has been-previously described in Fig. 5, parts No. l0, 0S and This seam detecting mechanism can be made still more selective by elong-ating the axial length of the seam entering short radius of the lever |20.

In Fig. 6, which shows the inspection station, the shaft 66 has ailixed thereto the lever |30 pivoted to the connecting rod |35 which passes freely through a slot in the bellcrank |36 and terminates in a flange |31 whichwill not pass through this slot. The bellcrank |36 is pivoted at |38 to the lug of the housing |0 and has a pivot |39 to support the lever |40 and terminates in a semi-annular seat |4| to t the base of the average sized fruit when the 'fruit is being held in the tongs Hi. The top of lever |40 is bent and passes through the center of the seat |4|, While the lower end is pivoted to the connecting rod |02 which is pivoted to the bellcrank |43 which .is pivoted on the lug extension of the housing |0,

while the opposite end is pivoted to the upright spacing bar |44.

The spacing bar |44 is provided with a counterweight to bi-as the top of the bar |44 toward the left in Fig. 6. The tongs operating bar |45 must slide from the position shown, to the left, approximately against the wall of the housing I0 and back again, this lateral motion being derived, through siutable means (not shown) from the pitting machine II.

This bar |45 is so adjusted th-at when in the position shown in Fig. 2, it will engage the ends.

of the gear segments 20 and open the tongs I8 at all operating stations exceptl station G in Fig. 2, which is shown in transverse section in Fig. 6. This exception at station G is accomplished by notching the -bar |45 as at |48 to a depth greater than the travel required by the segments 20 to fully open the. tongs I8. The top of the spacing bar 44 in Fig. 6 is of the same dimensions as, and registers with, the notch |46, so that when the bar |44 is raised while the bar |45 is in the leftward position, into the notch |46, a movement of the bar M5 to the rightward position will open the tongs at station G the same as at the other stations.

In Fig. 6 a downward movement of the lever |34 pulls the top oi the belle-rank |36 away from the fruit |48 which is necessary when changing fruits, and the return stroke with its over travel permits the seat I4| to be biased by the counterweight I 41 to contact the peach |48 regardless of the size of the latter. When the peach |48 is properly orientate'd the to p or bent end of the lever |40 will enter the stem indent and position the spacing bar |44 as shown. However, should the peach |48 be improperly orientated; that is, having the stem indent in any other relative position, the lever |40 wil be forced to the right in Fig. 6 relative to seat I4I, which will raise the bar |44 to result in opening the tongs I8, as previously described, thus dropping the peach |48 into the reject discharge chute |49 which is secured to the housing I0.

Fig. 7 shows a transverse sectional view of the transfer station where the properly orientatedfruit is fed to the pitting machine Il, only a fragmentary section of which is shown, having the stationary opposed knifelike guideways |50 to guide and support the fruit.

The orientator has a short section of similar but separable guideways I5I registering when advanced, with the stationary guideways |50. The guideways I5I are secured to the stems |52 which are slidably mounted in the housing I0 and frame 56, and positively opened and closed by the links |53 and |54, which are pivoted to the double bellcrank |55 which is secured to the shaft 66 and actuated by the connecting rod |56 leading to the pitting machine I| by which it is actuated.

Fig. 2 shows a push bar |51 supported and actuated by the pitting machine II. In Fig. 1 the pulleys 42 and 91 which drive the fruit revolving mechanisms are driven by a belt |58 which is interwoven between the various pulleys in order to drive each, and then passing to and back from the pitting machine II, by which it is driven (see also Fig. 2).

The pitting machine I| of necessity has a cam shaft (not shown) to operate and synchronize the pitting mechanism, and inasmuch as the orientating must also be synchronized in step with the pitting, it is in the interests of convenience, accuracy of synchronization and economy to use Operation After a particular peach finally reaches the extreme bottom ofthe hopper 24, or the treeA space between the hopper and the tongs, it will drop into the opening lbetween the tongs I8 which are being forced open by cam 39, and be carried forward step by step until it reaches the station A, where due to the termination of the cam 39, the tongs I8 will grip the peach, due to pressure of the spring I9, Fig. 2.

The tongs I8 still gripping the peach 2| will on the next cycle carry it forward to the tip lremoving station at B, where the peach 2| is clamped between the two rollers 46 of Fig. 1, which are not revolving at this time. Instantly, upon the completion of the chain I4 advance, five objects are completed simultaneously. Firstly, the tip cut-ofi knives 49 and the iingers 10 which are all carried -by the frame 52 are lowered to position as shown in Fig. 1. Secondly, the rollers 46 and |25 and the cups |00|I0 are advanced to contact and hold and later to revolve their respective fruits, being biased thereto by the springs 48 and I I I. Thirdly, the inspection levers |40|4| are biased to operating position by the counterweight |41. The object oi providing a iiexible means for bringing the rollers and inspection levers into contact with the fruit is, first to prevent bruising the fruit, and second to accommodate the variations in both size and profile. Fourthly, the retractable guideways I5| are brought into a positive operating engagement with the fruit, the entering edge of the guideways |5I being sharpened to cut into the fruit as shown in Fig. '7, all the iour preceding objects being controlled by the pitting machine II through the rod |56 of Fig. 7, and the shaft 66 as previously described. Fifthly, the source of electrical energy for operating the electro-magnets is restored by the pitting machine (not shown).

As previously described, the relative position of the detecting lever |40 to the seat I4| will be determined instantly upon contact with the peach |48, thus setting the space bar |44 in proper position. While the detecting lever |40 is being brought into contact with the fruit, the tongs operating bar |45 is retracted so that space bar |44 is free to enter the notch |46. As soon as the foregoing operations are completed the pitting machine will advance the tongs opera '.'ing bar |45, thus opening the tongs so the fruit is free to be revolved, or to'drop into the reject chute |49 if improperly orientated at this station.

Upon completion of the above, the belt |58 is immediately started by the pitting machine II and run far enough to turn each of the revolving 7 stantly stop the revolution rof the fruit as previously described. The tip eut-on knives 49 should be set at a cutting angle that will not pare the peach but which will remove a protuberance such as the tip. With two knives 49,' as shown in Fig. 2, each of which encircle'slightly more than 45 of the periphery oi the `fruit, it is obvious that a full revolution oi the fruit will subject the tip to the cutting action of either one knife 4S or the other, providing the tip lies within an arc or from 45 to 90 of a transverse horizontal ams. See Fig. Z-station B. However.

should the tip be positioned between. 0 and 45 from the horizontal transverse axis, and so as not to fall in the plane covered by the knives at station B, the knives at station C will sever the tip in the next cycle, because they are set at from those at station B, the rollers 4S at station C being also turned 90 in order to revolve the fruit accordingly.

Operation of the belt ISS will simultaneously sever the tip and orientate both thestexn indent and the seam. At the same time levers iii-|742 will inspect for proper orientation and theV pitting machine ii will operate the push bar |511 to transfer the peach to the pitting machine and return the push bar l5! to the shown position in Fig. l, all the foregoing while the chain I6 is at rest, and in accordance with the previous description.

Upon completion of the foregoing, the pitting machine now operates to stop the belt |55 and to retract the tongs operating bar. |45 permitting the tongs it to again grip the fruit, and also to disconnect the source of electrical energy from the 'electro-magnets.

As soon as the fruit is secured bythe tongs, the shaft @t is operatedasl previously described, to retract all the rollers 65 and 25, the cups itt-i iii, the inspection lever itt, the guideways liti, the knives i9 and the ngers l0. As soon as al'. these have been retracted to clear the path of the fruit, the pitting machine advances the chain ifi and consequently the .tongs and fruit one station to the right in Fig. l, thus completing the cycle, which is now ready to be repeated.

Fig. 1l shows means for orientatlng fruit to a stem end down position, which ispreferable in many instances. This gure shows a fruit it which has just been orientated by the serrated roller iti, which is secured to the shaft H62 which is journaled in a lug (not shown) of the housing it, and suitably and intermittently revolved by the pitting machine ii through means not shown.

The fruit 850 is shown resting on the shallow concave, conical face E63 of the housing i0. The relative size of the roller iti to the stem indent in particular (and the fruit being orientated in a lesser degree) is very important, as is also the face its in its relation to the roller Eel. The optimum relative size of the roller ii is that which is as large as possible (to better revolve the fruit) yet small enough to project into the concave seat E63 far enough to revolve the fruit at all times when the stem indent is inany other relative position than down, as shown by the heavy lines i60. When the fruit is in this position the roller ii must also be small enough to clear the stem indent, so that when a fruit is carried to the orientating station with the stem indentin some other position than down (such as shown by the broken line |64) by the tongs iti while being clamped about the fruit as previously described, and while the roller i6| is stationary, the tongs I8 will then -be opened far' enough to permit the fruit to revolve, yet close enough to form a guide to retain the fruit directly over the roller ISI, which is then revolved in either direction and with it the fruit, until the latter has reached the position shown at i60 where the roller ISI will continue to turn, but the fruit will stop, as itis now supported by the face i63 and the roller` ISI is turning freely in the indent.

In actual practice it has been found that the proportions shown in Fig. 11 are very satisfactory `and that the fruit revolves so erratically that it is .invariably properly orientated to a stern down position before the fruit has made five revolutions.

After the roller iti has completed a predetermined number of revolutions the roller is stopped, the tongs thenclose about the fruit it@ and are. raised to clear the fruit from the seat |63 and the tongs are carried by the chain id as previously describedto the next station and the cycle repeated.

Fig. 12 shows means to inspect the fruit for properbrientation (and reject all that is not properly orientated) in a stem downward position. In this design the frame it is provided lwith a lug |66 having a pivot l'l for the balance lever [p68 which terminates at one end in the counterweight |69 which must ibe lighter than the fruit, andv at the opposite end in an annular seat |10 to support the fruit ill. An inspecting finger |12 is pivoted at H3 to the lever it@ and provided with a counterweight llt which also serves as a latch andis iitted to catch on the pin H5 which is secured to and projects from the lug ist.

in operation the tongs it are provided with means (not shown) for a vertical movement sufiicient to lower the fruit ill into the seat iin before the tongs it are opened. The nger il' is so fitted that improper orientation of the fruit iii will raise latch iid from the pin lltl so that the improperly orientated fruit will be spilled oi the seat im, which will then be returned to the shown position by the counterweight its. A

It will lthus be seen that I have provided a :machine which while full automatic, will orient-ate and pit fruits along a definite and predetermined axisD and thus mechanically periorm. operations heretofore only possible by slow, tedious manual work.

Furthermore, the uniformity of output is even better than with manual pitting and the production is high compared tov prior methods of orientated pitting. It will also be obvious thatv uniform pitting along a definite axis insures a quality of output which will/bring high prices with the best eye value.

While I have seen fit to describe my invention as applied to peaches and in a preferred form, equivalent means will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art or through the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Fruit transporting means comprising a clamp having arms movable to hold a fruit therebetween, a pair of coplanar guideways positioned f above and below said clamp, and movable toward each other to enter said fruit, means for moving said guideways to enter said fruit, means for opening said clamp to release said fruit, a pair of stationary guideways positioned as extensions of said movable guideways and alined therewith' when said movable guideways have entered said fruit, means for sliding said fruit from said mov- Sii able guideways to said stationary guideways, means for separating said movable guideways in preparation for a new fruit, and means for removing the empty clamp and substituting a clamp with fruit therein.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein means are provided to clamp stone fruit between said guideways with the stone of said fruit between the entering edges thereof.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein means are provided to clamp stone fruit between said guidewa'ys with the stone of said fruit between the entering edges thereof, and with the stem indent of said fruit in the piane oi `said guideways.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein means are provided to clamp stone fruit between said guideways with the stone of said fruit between the entering edges thereof, and

with the stem indent oi' said fruit in the plane path.

ELIBWORTH W. CARROLL. 

